MUMBAI: India has vast potential to emerge as a regional education hub, but needs innovative and challenging opportunities in government policies to bring it to global standards, says David Johnson, dean, St Anthony's College, Oxford University.

The university and India's Core Education and Technologies has introduced a nine-month programme in Kerala on innovative approach to in-service training or professional development of teachers. In an interview to Rica Bhattacharyya from ET, Johnson speaks on the gaps in professional education in India and what could be done to bring it to global standards. Excerpts:

Where do you think gap lies in professional education in India and what could be done to bring it to global standards? What are the challenges?

In terms of global standards of professional or management education where other countries are moving rapidly is the professionalisation of such courses. In the UK, for instance, professional bodies suggest academic training in domain of higher education that very often universities cannot manage on their own. My immediate sense on the gap in India is that there is no immediate emphasis on who manages their professional education. The notion of professionalisation has nothing to do with collection of degrees.

What are India's prospects of emerging as a regional education hub?

India, more than any country, has vast potential to be a hub for education. In India, there are huge number of people with huge professional knowledge, including academics and social scientists, but they not getting the opportunity for collaboration. I have seen Indian teachers in action with fantastic skills and expertise. There is huge potential to make the world recognize this is where they want to be. What I saw in South Africa was the redrawing of higher education plans that requires huge amount of creative thinking and innovation - thinking that is ethical and the immediate visible result was the camping of number of UK academics in SA universities. India needs innovative and challenging opportunities in government policies in every sphere, not just in education.

What kind of training needs for teachers at primary level have you identified?

What we can see through research is a significant qualitative shift in how teachers approach their thinking about what it is they are doing. We are able to document the reflection of practitioners. The outcome is a growth model that is lacking not only in India and other developing nations but even in a lot of developed countries. There is lack of research on how teachers have grown in profession. We have achieved network learning communities in a concentrated way with guidance from our people or through internet driven technologies. The model we have developed is cutting edge and produces "reflective practitioners", who can be thoughtful, in a way that they are guided and supported.